If you hadn’t noticed it’s election time.
Across the UK thousands of party volunteers are knocking on doors and delivering leaflets in a hope they might sway someones vote. For some this is an easy decision to make having voted the same way since they turned 18. For others there is a choice to be made and making the ‘right’ one is not an easy thing to do.
The election on May 7th comes hot on the heels of Easter and its climax on Resurrection Sunday and I have been reflecting on what difference Jesus rising from the dead should make to our voting choice.
The resurrection changed everything
Crucifixion was the ultimate form of execution and the Roman empire used it to great effect. It was efficient, brutal and humiliating. A dying victim hanging on the cross let everyone know that anyone who thought they could stand up to the empire, were sadly wrong. The cross was a symbol of the power, dominion and terror of the empire and of a system built upon oppression and injustice.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross it was a sign that Rome was in control and any pretender to the title of ‘Lord’ would be dealt with. For the Jews who handed him over to be killed, it served as a sign that this was not God’s way. As Jesus breathed his last the way of the world declared victory.
The resurrection changed that.
It announced to the world that oppression, injustice and fear were not the winners.
That Jesus had come to show us the way to life in all its fullness.
To the defeat of sin and death.
To the redemption of all things.
The resurrection confirmed all that God was doing and has been doing since the creation of the world. It affirms a way of life that those who choose to be Jesus followers should strive to imitate. That means the way we vote must be ruled by what God has done and is doing.
Blessed are the peacemakers
A key policy is that of our defence spending and particularly the renewal of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. The cost of renewal is projected at £100 billion which is a lot of money when you don’t have any. The argument goes that having nuclear weapons protects us against others who have nuclear weapons. It’s a little like the National Rifle Associations assertion in the US that if more people carry guns the safer everyone will be. The fact is nuclear weapons would kill hundreds of thousands of people if used and would probably make a large chunk of the earth uninhabitable.
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Love your neighbour
The call to love is a major theme within the bible, it pervades all of what God is doing in the world. The most famous verse in the bible tells us that ‘God so loved the world’. If this is the case we as Christians need to look for where love is in this election process.
It’s not easy to do, but it’s essential.
Politicians of all leaning love to tear strips off of each other. They love to drag down the opposition and they love to find a scapegoat. The unemployed, benefit scroungers and immigrants are all targets for hate and vitriol. This game of scapegoating and dehumanising a group of people has always ended in disaster. We only have to look at recent history to see that blaming a small minority for all the problems doesn’t work.
Our faith in Jesus demands we seek to love our neighbour as ourselves and so we need to vote in a way that looks to embrace policy that looks to help all people not just a few and not at the expense of a scapegoat.
Deny yourself
Possibly the hardest of Jesus’ commands is the one to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. It is not easy for us to put to one side the desires of our heart and put others before ourselves. The pressure in the run up to the election to put ourselves first is immense. From every direction we are told that we must vote for the party that offers us the most. One radio advert ends with the line ‘what are they going to do for me?’
But to deny yourself and take up your cross is to put others first. It means choosing to help those who have nothing instead of just helping ourselves. It means we have to vote for policy that is outward focus that helps not just on the fringe of our society but those on the edge in every country. It is the most difficult thing to deny yourself but it is in dying that we are set free.
Credits – ‘Your Vote’ by byronv2 under CC BY-NC 2.0
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